I'm playing with MaLa and the Info window. I have mine setup to load the Info window with the Alt key and toggle between the various windows with the space bar - typical I think.

What I notice is that every time I do that, the list of "Current Pages" grows - as shown in Options | GUI | Info Window - I now have three sets of "Recommended Games, Controls, History, Snap, Marquee, Control Panel, etc. If I quit MaLa, the list goes back to a singleton for each page. This may not be a problem, just wanted to make you aware.

I was hoping to use this to display the current hi score info by using the hitotext app (as noted in the thread about hi score plugins) but I see no way to create a new page that I can get the info into. If this were PHP, I'd just cram the output from hiToText into an image and use that.

Any chance we can get an addition to the Type of page that we can add to the info window? A simple text file would work, an HTML file would work better, but either of those would allow display of the current hi score info (if it's been converted by the hiToText app)

I envision a file with the same name as the ROM but with a TXT or HTM extension - I guess we'd also need a place to input a folder location for these files.

What I notice is that every time I do that, the list of "Current Pages" grows - as shown in Options | GUI | Info Window - I now have three sets of "Recommended Games, Controls, History, Snap, Marquee, Control Panel, etc. If I quit MaLa, the list goes back to a singleton for each page. This may not be a problem, just wanted to make you aware.

Interesting

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I was hoping to use this to display the current hi score info by using the hitotext app (as noted in the thread about hi score plugins) but I see no way to create a new page that I can get the info into. If this were PHP, I'd just cram the output from hiToText into an image and use that.Any chance we can get an addition to the Type of page that we can add to the info window? A simple text file would work, an HTML file would work better, but either of those would allow display of the current hi score info (if it's been converted by the hiToText app)I envision a file with the same name as the ROM but with a TXT or HTM extension - I guess we'd also need a place to input a folder location for these files.

hmmm

I could make a window that read a text file sure.

Off the top of my head a simple plugin that ran to refersh the test file (calling hiToText). But would it not be cleaner to have HiToTest create just on file with all teh games in sections?eg:[1942]loadman 3928739204397 Points

I say it would be simpler if MaLa would just read the TXT file, but you get what you pay for so to speak.

The info that is output from hiToText is in the most basic form which is understandable. But using ImageMagick, or HTML, so much more could be done to format the data, and each person could control what they wanted.

well, perhaps we should stop and try to define what it is we are trying to do here.

Here's where I am (currently) going -

Since each game has a hi score file - it makes sense to me to tie that to the %rom% filename. And displaying it as an available page of the MaLa info (alt key) setup seems like the ideal place to show that info. As I said in the other thread, the current hi score would not affect my choice of games so displaying that in a layout makes no sense for my needs - YMMV.

But, if we create a new page for the MaLa info construct to display hi scores, then if the %rom%.txt file exists in the Mala/scores folder, it will display - if the file does not exist, it won't.

When you play a game, a new %rom%.hi file is created/updated - my mame.bat file would create a new %rom%.txt file using the new .hi file.

Since there is no way to get a text file into the MaLa info construct, I am attempting to use ImageMagick to create a simple PNG file of the %rom%.txt contents and store it as %rom%.png in the same folder. My current issue is that my experience with ImageMagick is via PHP in a web server environment, and using it via a batch file in XP is proving to be a PITA - I keep getting some arcane error saying it's unable to get type metrics

As far I can see, there will be no real need to change MaLa - at least using my current idea.

Now, for those that want the hi score info to be pluggable into a layout, that's a diff ballgame and would likely require changes to MaLa and/or a plugin.

Anyway - I'm off for the night - will work on this again in the AM when I am fresher - and less toasty, lol

FYI CPWizard can display HiToText output. Just have it running in the icon tray and when you run a game it will detect it running. Press 'L' and MAME is minimized and a menu is shown then select "My High Scores". CPW also supports output of other MAME related info and it's nicer to be able to bring it up while ingame rather than in the FE.

FYI CPWizard can display HiToText output. Just have it running in the icon tray and when you run a game it will detect it running. Press 'L' and MAME is minimized and a menu is shown then select "My High Scores". CPW also supports output of other MAME related info and it's nicer to be able to bring it up while ingame rather than in the FE.

No question that Headkaze has a fine selection of free tools and gizmos. Highly recommended.

But FYI I am still planning on adding a way to display within the FE (However basic that may end up)

Since there is no way to get a text file into the MaLa info construct,

Possibly I just need to add a new 'Type' Of Hi Scores that reads text files

(See Attached Pic)

That is what I was thinking too - but when that ability wasn't there, I started down this path of converting the text to an image - which I can hook into MaLa

Having a new type in MaLa simplifies things in that is would not require ImageMagick be installed - many of these MAME cabinets are lean machines - ImageMagick is not, lol.

I also wondered if it could be done as a new type of Definable - same idea, a type of Text or Hi Score - but this would also allow that info to be plugged into a layout. I know the current Definables are "images" so that may not be as easy to change.

Having a new type in MaLa simplifies things in that is would not require ImageMagick be installed - many of these MAME cabinets are lean machines - ImageMagick is not, lol.

Yep I will look at that

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I also wondered if it could be done as a new type of Definable - same idea, a type of Text or Hi Score - but this would also allow that info to be plugged into a layout. I know the current Definables are "images" so that may not be as easy to change.

A bit more work and the need to expand the layout format (which won't be backward compatible)

Having a new type in MaLa simplifies things in that is would not require ImageMagick be installed - many of these MAME cabinets are lean machines - ImageMagick is not, lol.

Yep I will look at that

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I also wondered if it could be done as a new type of Definable - same idea, a type of Text or Hi Score - but this would also allow that info to be plugged into a layout. I know the current Definables are "images" so that may not be as easy to change.

A bit more work and the need to expand the layout format (which won't be backward compatible)

Let's do this the simplest way possible - if it's easier to add "Text" or "Score" type to the MaLa info window, then that's the way to go.

I can do it without any changes to MaLa using the ImageMagick trick. My troubles with that are related to a bad DLL in XP, not to IM. The other problem is that not only is ImageMagick required - ImageMagick requires GhostScript be installed - my rough estimates are that those two installs account for about 50-55 MB of disk space.

Correction: it's more like 85 MB of additional disk space required for ImageMagick and GhostScript

I saw your post on the HiToText thread in the software forum and wanted to let you know I appreciate the work you're putting in to get HiToText incorporated into MaLa. I don't really have anything super productive to add, I like the idea of making it a text-style window. Maybe even have it be variables for any text field, however I'm not sure what variables you allow since the scores can be so wildly different. Some are almost always there: rank, score, and name. And with the XML format you can change those fields to be whatever you want I suppose.

I'm not sure, perhaps I'm just rambling, I'll let the experts sort out the details with programming in MaLa, however I am lurking and excited to see what comes out of these threads. =)

Stage1 ) Well at the very least I will put a extra window to allow display of text files in a directory. I can then alter the required file format and display depending on the feedback I get after this is done.

Stage 2) How will those files be generated and refreshed?

Using HiToText I hope. I am counting on others to find a solution or just give me the basic recipe that I can fire off when you quit a game (either in MaLa code or a new plugin)

Stage 3) I parse the text files and allow these details to be displayed in the layout. Don't feel too enthusiastic about the this. Lot's of effort required for minimum gain I feel at this point.

Using HiToText I hope. I am counting on others to find a solution or just give me the basic recipe that I can fire off when you quit a game (either in MaLa code or a new plugin)

The .hi (or nvram, or save state) file will change only on a successful exit of MAME, so the best time to generate these files would be immediately on returning to MaLa from the emulator. Should only take a max of 100 ms for HiToText to decipher the score, and then some other amount of time dependent on hardware to actually write the file to disk. So showing these updated scores may not be available immediately upon returning to your layout.

What I notice is that every time I do that, the list of "Current Pages" grows - as shown in Options | GUI | Info Window - I now have three sets of "Recommended Games, Controls, History, Snap, Marquee, Control Panel, etc. If I quit MaLa, the list goes back to a singleton for each page. This may not be a problem, just wanted to make you aware.

Yeah that is weird

Can someone post a few .hi files here so I can see the file structure please

Anyway here is a rough BETA version with a Dummy Hi Score page and options to navigate left and right through info windows. Please give feedback

dorunrun is the largest one I've found so far - the pacman one is shown as some games are not supported in the XML file and generated this type of txt file

Very odd, pacman is supported, I'll have to look at why it isn't being called correctly. Definitely a bug.

Also, you may want to look at a game like track and field, which has "alternate" scores such as top 4 in 100m dash in addition to a traditional hi score table. As for largest, I would think Crystal Castles is the largest at the moment. Saves 300 individual scores.

Very odd, pacman is supported, I'll have to look at why it isn't being called correctly. Definitely a bug.

Also, you may want to look at a game like track and field, which has "alternate" scores such as top 4 in 100m dash in addition to a traditional hi score table. As for largest, I would think Crystal Castles is the largest at the moment. Saves 300 individual scores.

Maybe I'm not doing things right. I downloaded the hiToText.exe and XML files - crammed them into the hi folder under MAME, and my MAME batch file runs it on the game just completed and saves the output to a file named .txt for that rom. All I ever get with pacman is that "not supported" error.

300 is very overkill - dorunrun's saving of 50 is way overkill too - IMHO - 5, maybe 10 seems adequate to me. But I'm a ole pinhead and only used to a top 5, so that may be the problem

This does allow me to specify a type of "Hi Score" - where do those text files need to be? in a particular folder?

Nothing ...yet

It's just a dummy display. I was after feedback and demo .hi files before I proceeded

After playing with this idea more, my suggestion would be just looking for a .txt file of the %rom% name in the mame folder for hi scores - if the hi folder does not exist, or the %rom%.txt file does not exist, then just ignore that page. BUt I don't know your code and how it's designed, so may be way off base with that idea.

Maybe I'm not doing things right. I downloaded the hiToText.exe and XML files - crammed them into the hi folder under MAME, and my MAME batch file runs it on the game just completed and saves the output to a file named .txt for that rom. All I ever get with pacman is that "not supported" error.

300 is very overkill - dorunrun's saving of 50 is way overkill too - IMHO - 5, maybe 10 seems adequate to me. But I'm a ole pinhead and only used to a top 5, so that may be the problem

No, you were doing things right, there was a bug. I've fixed it and will release it shortly, probably within the next couple hours.

As for overkill, I agree, 300 scores is a lot, however that is how many scores Crystal Castles saves. I only save what the game saves, and display what the game displays. Thankfully, HiToText output is fairly basic, and you are free to use the information however you see fit. =)

here is a preliminary version of my guide to get hi scores displayed via the MaLa info window. This may change depending on how Loadman implements the remaining parts and is currently based on the .txt files being read from the mame/hi folder. Fyrecrypts may want to add to/change the way that hiToText is being called.

Please NOTE that this technique does not currently work and may not ever - depending on Loadman's decision as to how/if he's going to implement this idea!

----------------------------------------------Step #1: Obtain a command line version of MAME that has the "no nag" (optional) and "hi score" (required) hacks compiled into it.

You have to compile that yourself - there are detailed instructions on the MAME site, so I won't go into those details here

Step #2: You need two files from the hiToText project. These can be obtained from this thread

No, you were doing things right, there was a bug. I've fixed it and will release it shortly, probably within the next couple hours.

Cool - thanks for the prompt attention

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As for overkill, I agree, 300 scores is a lot, however that is how many scores Crystal Castles saves. I only save what the game saves, and display what the game displays. Thankfully, HiToText output is fairly basic, and you are free to use the information however you see fit. =)

Yeah, my next thought/project may be a program to massage the .txt file after it comes out of hiToText and maybe trim things down some - as well as do some formatting of those .txt files.

NOTE: the paths used above are for my config - adjust accordingly to fit yours

Only thing I would consider is utilizing the -ra command instead of -r. -ra will get alternate scores in addition to the standard scores. Games like moon patrol that have best times per stage section, or the earlier mentioned track and field event entries. Finding a way to incorporate those as well would be interesting.

Only thing I would consider is utilizing the -ra command instead of -r. -ra will get alternate scores in addition to the standard scores. Games like moon patrol that have best times per stage section, or the earlier mentioned track and field event entries. Finding a way to incorporate those as well would be interesting.

Did you reallocate the keys?By default left and right will be the same

:facepalmyeah sorry, that fixes that - I feel so DOHI included some .txt files that are made by capturing the hiToText output when it processes the .hi fileHere's a zip file with some random .hi files in it

He He.. I have changed the defaults for next version. Now 'Left' is 'blank' and 'right' is 'space'.

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What I notice is that every time I do that, the list of "Current Pages" grows - as shown in Options | GUI | Info Window - I now have three sets of "Recommended Games, Controls, History, Snap, Marquee, Control Panel, etc. If I quit MaLa, the list goes back to a singleton for each page. This may not be a problem, just wanted to make you aware.

A minor bug there. It does not seem to effect functionality though.

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here is a preliminary version of my guide to get hi scores displayed via the MaLa info window. This may change depending on how Loadman implements the remaining parts and is currently based on the .txt files being read from the mame/hi folder.Step #4: make one change in MaLa to use this MAME.BAT file instead of the MAME.EXE file See mala-options-1.png attached NOTE: again, these are my folder paths, yours may be different, please adjust accordingly

My Knee Jerk reaction is I am not supportive (Step#4) of putting batch files in the mame exe section. I think I can either 1) Write a basic plug-in that calls the batch file on MaLa exit2) Write a sexy plugin that does all this with Config gui for users to set path3) Add section in options-gui-game start/quit to optionally call a batch file on game exit. I guess it would just call at reduced bat like:

What I notice is that every time I do that, the list of "Current Pages" grows - as shown in Options | GUI | Info Window - I now have three sets of "Recommended Games, Controls, History, Snap, Marquee, Control Panel, etc. If I quit MaLa, the list goes back to a singleton for each page. This may not be a problem, just wanted to make you aware.

My Knee Jerk reaction is I am not supportive (Step#4) of putting batch files in the mame exe section.I think I can either1) Write a basic plug-in that calls the batch file on MaLa exit2) Write a sexy plugin that does all this with Config gui for users to set path3) Add section in options-gui-game start/quit to optionally call a batch file on game exit. I guess it would just call at reduced bat like:

One of us is coooonfuuuuuuuuuused, lol prolly me - I'm used to it

Please find attached the only three that my batch file converted since I put it in place - maybe someone else can chime in here and provide more data :-)

1) You want MaLa to load the appropriate text file (based on rom name) into the info window2) My suggestions on how to execute HiToTxt on MaLa quit an/or my options on how you should think it should work?

1) You want MaLa to load the appropriate text file (based on rom name) into the info window2) My suggestions on how to execute HiToTxt on MaLa quit an/or my options on how you should think it should work?

I am sure we can make this work pretty quickly

well, I was under the impression you wanted it simple - IMHO, the batch file idea and just displaying that text file seems that way, but again, I've not seen the code so have no idea what fits the best.

Granted it likely won't be pretty - you could make some basic improvements based on the test data - like a | char equates to a TAB, and center each line (or create tab stops based on the | chars), pick a font that looks like a vid machine, etc.

If you want more control, then you could always write the plugin later to add more value to the text to displayable text conversion.

Seems like there is room to do both - doing the text file now at least gets it working and opens up feedback for new ideas to improve upon it all.

let me add that I personally have no issue with a DOS based batch file - I cut my teeth on those (and miss those days in a way) - YMMV - not sure a plugin could do that particular task any better. As far as the ability to massage the text file to something more display friendly - yeah, I think a plugin may be better for that idea.

In the end, this is your train robbery ... just let me know if/how I can help.

One of us is coooonfuuuuuuuuuused, lol prolly me - I'm used to it Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

I'm not saying that that batch file is a bad idea at all. I was simply saying it would be problmatic for other users to enable it using that method of subsittuting the mame.exe path with the batch file. It would be better to call a batch file another way. The reason is MaLa expects a real exe to be there when it tried to creat a mame.ini (if missing) or a mame.xml if missing

I use unix shell scripts at work all the time so I understand the value.

Yep, I am sold on the idea on the batch file generating / updating the .txt files?

I will get MaLa natively to trigger it on game exit. I will work on that. I will write the MaLa code to trigger it.

Can you finish them appropriate batch file.? It will prbnably be just a sub set of what you have done already I guess?

Is this plan cool with you?

Also Have a look at this MaLa beta to prompt more discussion on the Info Display format.

All it does it display a %ROM.txt file if present in subfolder 'hi' at this point.

No fancy tabs yet , just replacing | with 3 spaces for now. if you have some Delphi Tabs Stop code do pass it as it will save me time writing my own